Paintbrush guide attachment



May 15,1951 H. w. HECKMAN 2,553,453

PAINTBRUSH GUIDE ATTACHMENT Filed Feb. 27, 1946 /Z Y INVENTOR.

Harr/ 14K Hec/r/f/O/f Patented May 15, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICE2 Claims.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in guideattachments for paint brushes.

An object of the invention is to provide a simple, eiiicient, cheapdurable attachment for a brush which will enable a painter to guide italong the edge of a narrow surface and control the application of paintto that surface without danger of the paint extending outside thedesired area.

A further object is to provide a guide which can be easily andquickly'applied to and removed from a brush and which can, while on thebrush, be moved to an operative or inoperative position with ease by theflick of a finger. By such construction the operator may slide the guideto a retracted position when dipping the bristles into the paint can,thus preventing the guide from coming in contact with the paint.

Further and more specific objects, features, and advantages will moreclearly appear from the specification hereinafter set forth especiallywhen taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which illustratea present preferred form which the invention may assume and which formpart of the specification.

In brief and general terminology, the invention comprises a metal memberwith spring walls adapted to be slipped over the base of a brush. Onthis member is a guide plate disposed thereon to be slid up and down toassume operative and inoperative positions with respect to the free endsor" the bristles of the brush. When in operative position the lowerfinger end of the guide plate is disposed in line with the free ends ofthe bristles and lies alongside one face of them in order to rest on theedge of a surface being painted, such as the edge of a window sash orwindow sill, to hold the brush in proper relation to the surface to bepainted and prevent surfaces or areas beyond that edge being paintedwhich would happen if something was not provided to guide the hand ofthe painter with certainty and with more assurance than the normalsteadiness of his hand.

Thus there is provided a device which enables this result to be simplyachieved and at the same time permits the workman to paint much morerapidly than if he had to control the run of the brush by means merelyof the steadiness of his hand.

The present preferred forms which the invention may assume areillustrated in the drawings in which,

.Figure 1 is a perspective view of the device attached to a paint brush,the brush being shown in dot and dash lines.

Figure 2 is a horizontal cross through the attachment taken on the line2 2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a vertical section taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Figure fi is a perspective view of a modified form of the device.

The attachment which constitutes this invention is adapted to be appliedto a paint brush which has a handle A, a body or base portion B. andbristles C. The device comprises a resilient U-shaped member 9 having anend wall I!! and spaced opposed side walls Il and I2 which lie closelyalong the sides of the body B and are preferably of spring metal toresiliently press against the body B.

ln the form of the invention shown in Figures 1, 2, and 3 the side wallI2 has an outwardly off-set portion I3 having an L-shaped member or bentlug Ill struck outwardly therefrom. The guide member I5 employedincludes a U-shaped portion I6 having inwardly turned side iiangesI'I-II to lie alongside of and embrace the side Walls I8-I8 respectivelyof the off-set portion or guide rib I3, The portion I5 of the lguidemember I5 has a vertical elongated slot or guideway 20 therein throughwhich the L-shaped member I4 extends to facilitate the manual raising orlowering of the guide member. The top of the portion I6 is provided withan outwardly extending lip 23. Integral with the portion I6 andextending downwardly therefrom is a guide element or finger 2ipreferably having its side edges converging to a pointed lower end 22.The guide finger 2l extends generally all the way down to the lower endof the bristles C when the member I5 is moved down to its lowermostoperative position. When the guide member 2| is not to be used and whenthe brush is to be dipped into the paint can, the member I5 is movedupward to retracted position by placing the finger under the lip 23 andlifting upwardly thereon, thus sliding the guide element upward clear ofthe bristles.

In the modied form of the invention shown in Figure 4 in perspective,the device is substantially the same and the same numerals have beenused to denote identical parts. However, in this form, the slide memberI5 is provided with the slot 26' in the end wall I8 instead of in theside wall I2. This change is for the purpose of enabling the attachmentto be used in instances where the broad side of the brush is to be drawnover the surface to be painted. In this modification the end wall I0 isprovided with a struck- 3 out L-shaped member I4 projecting through theslot 20. In other respects the construction is the same as abovedescribed.

The invention in each of the forms shown includes a meta1 clip-likemember adapted to embrace the body of a brush and with a slidable guideplate thereon having a dependent linger portion 2| to lie alongside ofthe bristles to enable the painter to guide his brush when painting theedges of windows, sills, or narrow portions Where it is desirable not tohave the brush run over an edge or a line. This construction enablesthis result to ybe achieved with little eiTort on the part of theworkman. It is a device in which the guide member can be readily andeasily moved to either an operative or an inoperative position with theflick of a finger. Also, the device may be easily removed from the brushfor cleaning the same and for cleaning the brush.

While the invention has been described in detail and with respect to apresent preferred form which the invention may assume, it is not to belimited to such details and forms since many changes and modificationsmay be made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scopeof the invention in its broadest aspects, Hence it is desired to coverany and all forms and modications of the invention which may come Withinthe language or scope of any one or more of the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A device of the class described comprising a resilient U-shaped clampmember open at one side to receive the body of a paint brush above thebristles thereof, said member having an offset guide rib on the outerface of one side extending over the full length of said member andlength- Wise of said brush, a member having side flanges engaging saidoiset guide, one of said members presenting a longitudinal guide slotand the other a bent lug engaging said slot and holding said memberstogether, so that the second-named member can be moved on the body ofthe brush, said second-named member having a tapered element extendingbeyond the rst member, to be flush with the ends of the bristles of thebrush when the second-named member is in operative position, saidelement lying alongside the bristles.

2. A device of the class described comprising a l HARRY W. HECKMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 173,456 Frobisher Feb. 15, 1876345,666 Bradford July 20, 1886 517,868 Krichbaum Apr. 10, 1894 1,257,308Boyle Feb. 26, 1918 1,915,893 Kinpoitner June 27, 1933 2,237,923Brainard Apr. 8, 1941

